Seeking information about the quarry drag saw
in the photographs below.

Lynn Northrop and her
husband, and Wayne Northrop are seeking information on
the quarry drag saw in the photographs below. (Lynn
and Wayne Northrop own and operate the Raymond
Museum located at Raymond, Madera County, California. You can
read more about the Raymond Museum on the online article, “Raymond
Museum now an historical place of interest,” by Elizabeth
Gabriel, May 30, 2008, on the Sierra Star web site.)

The stone saw shown in the photographs below was donated by Mark Ward,
owner of Mark Ward Truckin; and it was recently moved and installed
by local volunteers as a new exhibit at the Raymond Museum (August
2010).

“It was possibly a marble cutting saw moved from San Francisco
in the 1890s or early 1900s. It sat at a small quarry near Bates
Station, an old Stagecoach stop near the Madera Quarry about 12 miles
from Raymond. A man named Carl Taylor ran it in the 1930s and then
walked away with the blade still stuck in a slab of granite. The iron
cutting blades run vertically instead of horizontally and the screw
system is still intact on top lowering the blades as the water and
shot cut through the slabs. We are trying to date the saw style and
find out where it may have come from and if there are others left around
California or the country (USA).”

Quarry / stone saw in Bates quarry in 1993

Stone saw set up in yard in 2010

Air Compressor (circa 1925) from The Story of the Rock of Ages, Boutwell, Milne & Varnum Company, Montpelier, Vermont, written and compiled by Athol R. Bell, 1925.

“Tremendous Power. The Rock of Ages air compressor is capable of delivering 3,700 cubic feet of air per minute.”

"Air
Power Economy in a Granite Quarry," from Mine and
Quarry
Magazine, Vol. III. No. 1, June 1908, Sullivan Machinery Co., Publisher,
Chicago, Illinois. (The Rockport Granite Company of Rockport, Massachusetts,
is discussed.)

An English Stone-Working Machine (September 1891)
The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 23, Issue 9, September 1891,
pg. 207. (The article includes a sketch of this machine.) (Article in
digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

The Concord Stone-Polishing Machine (August 1890)
The Manufacture and Builder, Vol. 22, Issue 8, August 1890,
pg. 177. (The article includes a sketch of the machine; text of article
in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

The Crump and Brereton Rotary Quarrier and Stone Shaper (October
1884) (The article includes a sketch: "The Crump and Brereton Rotary
Quarrier and Stone Shaper.") The Manufacturer and Builder,
Vol. 16, Issue 10, October 1884, pg. 229. (Article in digital images
viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

"The
Crump and Brereton Rotary Quarrier and Stone Shaper"
(December 1884) Quarrying Notes – The Manufacturer and Builder,
Vol. 16, Issue 12, December 1884, pgs. 275-276. (text and diagram of
the machinery) (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory,
Library of Congress.)

“Hiero, king of Syracuse, learning of Archimedes’ remark,
is recorded in history as having requested a demonstration to illustrate
his contention that a very great weight could be lifted by a small force.
Archimedes, who had been experimenting with a crude form of block and
tackle appeared before the king and performed the same experiment that
first had caused him to give voice to his claim. Whether he lifted a
great block of stone or a tree trunk, history is not clear, but the fact
remains that Archimedes was the pioneer in the field of cranes and derricks.
Previous to the time of Archimedes the lifting and moving of huge stones
was chiefly a question of man power and greased ways. Archytias, a deciple
(sic) of Pythagoras, invented the single pulley and it was through a
multiplication of pulleys that Archimedes somewhat later demonstrated
his theory of the weight lifting. It might be said, in passing, that
it was Archimedes, who upon discovering that his body displaced water,
ran from his bath crying out the news of his discovery. The Early Greeks
and Romans were well acquainted with the block and tackle, while during
the Middle Ages it was used extensively to lift heavy loads. Working
sketches of hoists, blocks and tackle and derricks in many forms are
contained in the sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the Florentine
artist and architect, as well as engineer, who exercised such a pronounced
influence upon the art and architecture of his time. But it was not until
the age of steam that hoists and derricks really came into their own
and began to be perfected in the form that we know them today. It was
but a step to make them applicable to electric as well as steam power
and it is with the latter that the stone industry is concerned, although
quarries still use steam derricks to a great extent, due to the remoteness
of many of their deposits from central electric energy plants. Thus from
the first locomotive cranes built in England about 1850 or perhaps a
little later, crane and derrick manufacturers have sought to meet the
requirements of every industry. In small stone yards and mills hand cranes
are still in use, but in the larger plants all stone is moved by means
of the overhead electric traveling cranes, which are more than mere cranes,
but rather suspension bridges of great lifting power and freedom of motion
that make it possible to employ them in almost every conceivable manner
for lifting and shifting of both the quarry blocks and the finished materials.
They are as indispensable to the mill owner as are the pneumatic tools
to the carver and the sculptor.”

“Quarry No. 1 as the photographer saw it in 1890. Now (circa 1925) it is a yawning chasm and the 82-ft. derrick mast which the prophets had cast for a white elephant role has yielded its place to one that is more than 100 feet high.”

“The rim of this saw contains 125 diamonds. They are embedded in steel, and when the exposed corner becomes dull the stone is broken out and given a new setting. A saw of this kind, if given plenty of water, will cut its way through the hardest marble.”

An Electric Drill for Quarry Work (June 1893) (The article
includes three sketches; one is "General Electric Company's
Electric Percussion Drill.") The Manufacturer and Builder,
Vol. 25, Issue 6, June 1893, pg. 134. (Text of article in digital images
viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Improved Hoisting Engine for Quarrying (November 1884) (The
article includes three views of "Improved Hoisting Engine For Quarrying.")
The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 16, Issue 11, November
1884, pgs. 250-251. (Article in digital images viewed at American
Memory, Library of Congress.)

Improved Hoisting Engines for Quarry Work (February 1886)
(The article includes two sketches with two views of the: "Lidgerwood
Single-Cylinder Hoisting Machine (without boiler)." The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 18, Issue 2, February 1886, pgs. 35-36. (Article
in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Improved Hoisting Engine Designed for Quarry Use (May 1888)
(The article includes a sketch of "Improved Engine for Quarry Use.")
The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 20, Issue 5, May 1888, pg.
108. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of
Congress.)

Improved Hoisting Engine for Quarry Service (May 1892) (The
page includes a sketch of "Improved Hoisting Quarry Engine for
Quarry Service.") The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol.
24, Issue 5, May 1892, pg. 110. (Article in digital images viewed at
American Memory, Library of Congress.)

The Knox Blasting System – “Modern Methods of Quarrying,” in Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XXXII, No. 832, New York, December 12, 1891.

Banner from the December 12, 1891, issue of Scientific American Supplement, No. 832

“Fig 3 is a round hole drilled either by hand or otherwise, preferably otherwise, because an important point is to get it round. Fig. 4 is the improved form of hole, and this is made by inserting a reamer, Figs. 5 and 6, into the hole in the line of the proposed fracture, thus cutting two V-shaped grooves into the walls of the hole.” (from the December 12, 1891, issue of Scientific American Supplement)

“The usual method of charging and tamping a hole in using the new system is shown in Fig. 8. The charge of powder is shown at C, the air space at B and the tamping at A. Fig. 9 is a special hole for use in thin beds of rock” (from the December 12, 1891, issue of Scientific American Supplement)

“The Knox System of Quarrying,” by William L. Saunders, in Scientific American, Vol. XXXIII, No. 836, New York, January 9, 1892, pp. 13356-13357

A Large Quarry Hoisting Engine (May 1893) (This article
includes a sketch of a "Ten-Ton Quarry Hoisting Engine, Built by
J. S. Mundy of Newark, N. J.") The Manufacturer and Builder,
Vol. 25, Issue 5, May 1893, pg. 111. (Article in digital images viewed
at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

The
Lewis – The lewis is a tool that is used by a
freemason to raise large stones and set them in the desired location.
Visit this web site for a thorough description and diagram of the
lewis. The web site is presented by Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry.

Manufacturer of Grindstones (June 1894) The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 26, Issue 6, June 1894, pg. 135. (The article
includes a sketch of "Turning Large Grindstones - Quarry No. 2
West View, Ohio"; article in digital images viewed at American
Memory, Library of Congress.)

“The electric channeling machine runs on a movable track which is placed on the floor of the quarry. By continual pounding on the marble, this machine sinks a narrow groove to a depth of several feet, making it possible to take out blocks of uniform shape and size. The cutting is done by five chisel-pointed drills, clamped together in a row and attached to the end of a steel bar.”

“Cutting Marble Block from Floor of Quarry”

The McDonald Stone Dressing Machine (January 1885) (The
article includes a sketch of the machine.) The Manufacturer and
Builder,
Vol. 17, Issue 1, January 1885, pg. 12. (Article in digital images viewed
at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

This article describes the need to mass produce the Civil War headstones rather than by individual stone carvers. Contracts for the headstones and bases were given out to several different quarries and companies in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Tennessee. The need for large numbers of markers also increased the use of the sandblasting process to speed up carving the names on the stones. Both mass production the sandblasting process caused great changes in the work of the stone carvers, which led to demands by the stone workers’ unions, such as the eight-hour work day.)

“Polishing Granite,” in the “Practical Pointers” section ofThe Monumental News, March 1896. This article begins as follows: “By way of preface to the following remarks upon granite polishing, it should be stated that the discussion is based upon the employment of machines of the most approved type and excellence, several of which are manufactured in Barre, Vt. Illustrations of some of these may be seen in the advertising columns of this journal….”

“The work is all done by a small, whirling disk which is moved about over the watered surface of the stone. The first plate used is coated with carborundum, the second with aloxite, and the third with hone. To complete the process, the plat is covered with felt and applied in conjunction with polishing putty.”

The Pulsometer as a Quarry Pump (January 1885) (The article
presents views of "The New Pulsometer" and a view of "The
New Pulsometer Applied to Quarry Work.") The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 17, Issue 1, January 1885, pgs. 13-14. (Article
in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

“Miners making the electrical connections for blasting a monster block of Carrara marble”

“Block marked for cutting”

“White Marble Quarry Entrance”

“Where Carrara sculptors learn their art”

“Making the gigantic statues”

“Slab cutting saws operated by steam and water power”

“Steam power marble planers”

Quarry Equipment circa 1886 – “Methods of Quarrying and Dressing” − Excerpts from The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones in the U.S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue, by George P. Merrill, curator, pp. 285-331. From Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution…Year ending June 30, 1886, 1887.

Quarrying
and Working Marble (October 1893) The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 25, Issue 10, October 1893, pg. 230. (Text
of article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library
of Congress.)

Quarring Equipment & Tools in the Stone Industries in the United States & Foreign Countries up through 1939 in The Stone Industries: Dimension Stone, Crushed Stone, Geology, Technology, Distribution, Utilization, by Oliver Bowles (Supervising Engineer, Building Materials Section, United States Bureau of Mines), New York: 2nd ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1939. (You can view a copy of this book on Internet Archive web site, and you can download a copy of the book to your computer at the link above.)

This book fully covers the United States stone quarry industry up through 1939. There is also a chapter on “Foreign Building and Ornamental Stones.” Below is a listing of the information covered in the chapters. (Many photographs of quarries, etc., are included in this book.)

Part I. General Features of the Stone Industries

Chapter I. Extent and Subdivision. Extent of the Industry – Major Divisions of the Industry – Varieties of Stone Used

Chapter II. Minerals and Rocks. Distinction between Rock and Stone – Relationship of Rocks to Minerals – Rock-forming Minerals – Classification of Rocks – General Distribution of Rocks in the United States.

Chapter III. Factors Governing Rock Utilization. Rock Qualities on Which Use Depends – Importance of Other factors than Quality – Available Markets; Diversification of Products Transportation Facilities – Production Code

Chapter XVII. Crushed and Broken Limestone. Types of Stone Included – Extent of Industry – Uses of Crushed and Broken Limestone – Uses for Which Physical Properties are Most Important – Uses for Which Chemical Properties are Most Important – Uses of Dolomite and High-magnesian Limestone – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment; Bibliography

Chapter XVIII. Crushed and Broken Stone Other Than Limestone. General Features – Uses – General Distribution and Value – Industries by States – Quarry Method and Equipment – Marketing – Bibliography

Quarrying Sandstone by Channeling and Wedging (March 1891)
(The article includes a sketch with the caption: "Quarrying with
Channeling and Wedging.") The Manufacturer and Builder,
Vol. 23, Issue 3, March 1891, pg. 57. (Text of article in digital
images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Quarrying with the Ingersoll Bar Channeler ( July 1891) The
Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 23, Issue 7, July 1891, pg. 159
(Photograph of quarry and quarry workers and text of article (Text
of article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of
Congress)

“The underground marble quarries at West Rutland are 2,000 feet long and have a maximum width of 700 feet. An electric road which operates on the floor of the quarry is 300 feet below the surface and stretches for 800 feet out into the tunnel. Connecting with this electric railway and leading up to the ground level is a cable track which is 500 feet long and rises at an angle of forty-five degrees.”

Electric railway used in the underground marble quarries at West Rutland

“The rubbing bed is a large, horizontal, castiron disk, made to revolve in a frame and so constructed as to allow sand and water to play over its surface. After the mills have reduced the marble to the required size, it is placed on the rubbing beds, where it is held in a fixed position until the corners are perfect and the surfaces smooth.”

Circular Cutter – “Cutting Columns From Solid Rock” (at Charleroi, Belgium, circa 1906), in The Literary Digest, Vol. XXXII, No. 16, New York, April 1906, pp. 612-613. (This article begins: “A special electric drill or cylindrical cutter for sinking shafts in rock by taking out solid columns of stone is now built by the Société de Constructions Electriques at Cherleroi, Belgium. The essential part of this machine, as described by L. Ramakers in The Scientific American (New York, March 31), is an iron-plate cylinder 140 inches in height and 36 ½ in diameter, at the base which is mounted a cylindrical knife 12 inches in height, bearing alternate teeth upon concentric circumferences….”)

"The circular cutter at work," in The Literary Digest, April 1906 at Charleroi, Belgium

"Pits dug by the circular cutter," in The Literary Digest, April 1906 at Charleroi, Belgium

"Portions of a granite core extracted by circular cutting," in The Literary Digest, April 1906 atCharleroi, Belgium

Diamond Stone-Sawing Machine (February 1892) The New
England Magazine, Vol. 24, Issue 2, February 1892, pg. 39. (The
article includes a sketch of the machine) (Article in digital images
viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

“The modern marble mill is constructed of steel and is divided up into stalls or compartments, any one of which will accommodate a large quarry block. The sawing is done by smooth iron bands, set in a moving horizontal frame and acting in conjunction with sand and water. While the soft strips of iron are being dragged to and fro across the marble, the water is pouring down over the top of block, bringing the particles of sand which are to serve as teeth for saws.”

Saw used at the main Knowles granite quarry, Madera County – If you would like to see the rest of the photographs from this quarry tour, visit the “Raymond/Knowles, Madera County – the main Knowles Quarry (Granite) – Quarry Blast Mid-quarry” section of our web site. (The following photographs of the stone saw are from a tour for the Yosemite Rangers of the main Knowles granite quarry site and the Raymond Museum on February 21, 2012. (These photographs were contributed by Lynn Northrop of the Raymond Museum.)

Saw at the main Knowles granite quarry

Close-up photo of the granite saw used at the main Knowles granite quarry

Steam Shovel from The Story of the Rock of Ages, Boutwell, Milne & Varnum Company, Montpelier, Vermont, written and compiled by Athol R. Bell, 1925.

“A Leviathan of the Hills. Larger than any of the excavating equipment used in the construction of the Panama canal, this giant steam shovel will be occupied for years in removing waste granite piles from the Rock of Ages quarries.”

Stone Cutter Machine Model (YouTube video) “This is a model of a stone cutter machine. The blade is mounted on a XZ Cartesian robot.”

Stone Cutting Machine (YouTube video) “We developed this New Product in Korea. This Machine uses 50 cutting saws which are size of 65 inches at one time. This Machine can produce 300 square meters stone slice in one day….”

Stone Saw - CPG 3500 (YouTube video) “Machine for cutting blocks of marble or granite with a 2500 to 3500mm.”

Stone-Sawing and Its Machinery (December 1884) (The article
includes a sketch of a "Modern Stone-Sawing Machine.") The
Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 16, Issue 12, December 1884, pg.
276-277. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library
of Congress.)

Wire Cord Saw – Quarrying by Wire Cord (June 1891) (The article includes
a sketch of machinery used to quarry by wire cord.) The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 23, Issue 6, June 1891, pgs. 129-130. (Text
of article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of
Congress.)

Stone Dressing Machine (pneumatic) (1894) – “A Revolution in the Granite Business,” in The Monumental News, October 1894. (According to this article, the firm Chas. H. More & Co. of Barre and Montpelier, Vermont, was among the first to introduce the Pneumatic Stone Dressing Machine, introduced by the American Pneumatic Tool Company of New York.)

“Pneumatic Stone Dress in operation.”

“Interior view of plant at Montpelier” (Vermont)

Stone Ornamenting Machine (using diamond saws) (December
1874) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 6, Issue 12, December
1874, pg. 273. (The article includes a sketch of the machine.) (Article
in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Stone Quarrying by Machinery (August 1874) (The article
contains a sketch of a "Stone-Quarrying Machine.") The
Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 6, Issue 8, August 1874, pgs. 172-173.
(Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Stone Quarrying by Machinery (October 1884) (This article
includes a sketch of "Saunders' Improved Ingersoll Channeling
Machine" and another of a "gang of drills.") The
Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 16, Issue 10, October 1884, pg.
226. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library
of Congress.)

Part
I. Vol. 59, No. 2, June 2006. (“Introduction:
This article, the first in a series of four on granite working,
deals with granite as a material, an industry, and a product and
begins the description of the granite quarrying process.”)

Part
II. Vol. 59, No. 3, September 2006. (“Introduction:
This article, the second in a series of four on granite working,
completes the description of the quarrying process....”)

Part
III. Vol. 59, No. 4, December 2006. (“Granite
Finishing: A small number of basic finished dimension stones made
up the great majority of granite shed production. For gravestones
and private....”)

Part
IV. Vol. 60, No. 1, March 2007. (“This article
is the last in a series of four on the tools and machinery of granite
working....”)

Tools Used in Stone-Cutting (February 1885) The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 17, Issue 2, February 1885, pg. 38. (Article
in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

Tools Used in Stone-Cutting (February 1890) The Manufacturer
and Builder, Vol. 22, Issue 2, February 1890, pg. 32. (This article
includes a sketch of the tools used) (Article in digital images viewed
at American Memory, Library of Congress.)